Shape of each value
- The value in one sentence
- What it looks like in practice (2-3 behaviours)
- What it explicitly does NOT mean (the anti-example)
- A recent story where we lived it — or didn't
How to write them
Draft with a small group, pressure-test with a wider one, ship them owned by the leader. Values written by committee sound like every other company's values.
How to use them
Reference them in design reviews, hiring debriefs, and performance conversations. If you're not using them in decisions, delete them — they're doing more harm than good.
Common pitfalls
- — Generic values ("integrity", "excellence") that no company would disagree with.
- — Writing values that describe the org you wish you were, not the one you're building toward.
- — Never revisiting them. Culture drifts; the charter should too.